Improvement in street-sweeping apparatus



E.v C; BOWNE. Street-Sweeping Apparatus.

No. 222,447. Patented Dec. 9,1879.

ILPETERS, FHDTD LIYHDGRAFMER. WASHINGTON D C STATES TENT IG fi C. BOWNE, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 222,447, dated December 9, 1879; application filed July 7, 1R79.

To all whom it may concern- Be it known that I, EUREKA C. BOWNE, of New York, in the county and State of New York, `have invented a 'new and Improved `one end of the rotary broom.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the gures.

The object of this invention is to produce an apparatus for thoroughly sweeping a street without throwing dust and spatterin g dirt on the sidewalks or otherwise interfernggwith the proper use of the street,

The invention consists in a novel arrangement and combination of an independentlyhinged incline, having a supporting-roller, with the rotary broom; in a novel construction of sectional and detachable broom, and

.in other combinations of parts, all as hereinafter more fully described.

In the accompanyin gdrawin gs, the letter A represents the frame of my improved streetswceper. The same is supported on front wheels, B, and hind wheels, G, in the ordinary or suitable manner. The hind wheels, C, carry toothed wheels D D, that mesh into pinions a i ce on the shaft E of the broom. This shaft E has its bearings in arms b-b, that are pivoted to the axle of the hind wheels, C, so that no matter how far the arms b may be raised or lowered the distance of the pinions a from the .center ot' the wheels C `D will always remain the same.

The arms b extend backwardly from the axle ofthe wheels G, and are at their rear ends suspended by links l d'from a'vertically-movable cross-barF. This cross-bar is suspended from a stout screw, G, that has its bearings in a back bar, e, of theft-ame A. g By turning this screw G, which has arsuitable handle for the 4 purpose, the broom may be more or less raised or lowered, and yet the pinion a will always `remain in gear, as the arms b swing on the axis ot' the wheels D. As a broom Wears smaller it can be conveniently lowered to reach contact with the street, and the broom may also be loweredwhenever, owing to the condiJ tion ot' the street, more power in sweeping is required.

The broom His made of longitudinal sections, as shown in Fig. 4, so that it can be readily detached from and reapplied toits shaft. It is very desirable that the broom be made detachable, as this will permit the convenient use of different brooms, according to the different character ot' sweeping to be performed. The broom for sweeping snow may be different from that used for sweeping light dust, and dilerent still from that used on slush and mud. Vhen the broom is made in sections it is readily taken off its shaft by removing the connecting'screws m, and as readily replaced.

In front of the broom is suspended from the frame A a tank or receptacle, I, for the sweepin'gs, which tank is in front closed by a vertical lid, L, and is entirely open in rear. The bottom of the tankis composed ot two inclines, fand g, which meet at their elevated ends, as shown. The rearmost incline, f, is hinged at its front end, and carries at its lower side a gum-covered roller, J, which rolls on the surface of the street and prevents the lower end of the incline f from dragging. If a stone or other obstruction is met, the roller J will raise the incline over the same without injury. The broom, in revolving during the progress of the vehicle, throws the sweepings over and along the incline f into the tank I, where they are collected. When full the tank Iis easily emptied by swinging the lid Lforward. This lid is hinged at its upper end, as at h. Its lower end is, by a suitable bolt, t', (preferably a spring-bolt,) held locked to the tank. A cord or chain, j, connects the bolt t to a lever, M, which is placed near the dri vers seat N, so that by swinging said lever the driver can readily unfasten the bolt and then swing the lid L forward, thereby opening the tank.

The contents of the tank will fall out along the incline g. It' necessary, their discharge may be assisted by means of a suitable shovel, applied through the top of the tank. For this purpose the cover O ot' the tankis hinged or otherwise movable, so that it may be easily opened.

It will be perceived that by means of this machine a street may be eii`ectively and easily tions, which are detachable from and clamped against the squared ends of its shaft E, and combined with the fasteners m m, substantially as herein shown and described.

3. The combination of the rotary broom H, hung in arms b, with the hinged incline f, having supporting-roller J, and with the tank I, for operation substantially as herein shown and described.

EUREKA G. BOWNE. Witnesses:

A. v. BRIEsEN, T. B. MOSHER. 

